Customer Reviews

Fruitful: On Motherhood and Feminism

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Though there are imperfections, I greatly appreciated this book. I believe that it is an extremely important contribution for anyone interested in feminism and contemporary life for women and mothers. As a feminist, a mother and a social worker (both practitioner and academician), I have struggled to bridge the realities of my life with feminist ideologies (and I have read a great deal of this literature). No one can negate the value of the feminist movement for making huge advances for women in this world. Thank God for it. But an unfortunate and perhaps unintended outcome of feminism is that, in truth, it left a lot of women out. I am struck, year after year as I teach new groups of social work students (mostly women, in a profession built on feminist principles) how many of them feel they cannot call themselves feminists! I have also seen this in my clinical practice. I think this is because the "dogma" of feminism can be quite alienating and self-righteous--too much of how things "should" be and not enough attention to how things are for many women. That can really put people off, and, if they have poor self esteem, even make them feel flawed. In practice, feminism has not been very tolerant of different ways of life. Anne Roiphe's book, even with its imperfections, manages to call attention to these issues, and I think she is right--feminism didn't embrace motherhood in a helpful way, even if it acknowledged the difficulties of balancing work life and motherhood, nor did it help women in their relationships with men very much. I realize this is very complex, but the outcome cannot be denied. Though many read this book and interpret it as a step backwards, I think Roiphe (and her daughter, Katie, by the way) are working to reach more women, to challenge outdated feminist ideas to help modernize feminist concerns. I appreciate her dissenting voice.

This is the best book I've read on the subject of being a mother and working. Roiphe hits the nail on the head: childcare has not been adequately dealt with in women's lives. How can a woman exist who is dedicated to her career and also a loving mother ? Roiphe asks us to rethink our answer to this; and to back it up with actions, to support all women. I agree !!! Kimberly Fujioka, university English Instructor now working as a teacher and mother in Japan.

This amazing book is poignant and crammed with truth. I related to many, many parts of Roiphe's efforts to be succesful, raise children, keep a husband happy, and maintain a sense of self - all of the stuff Supermom is supposed to do...but most of all I related to her whole and complete love for her children. I've never read anything better about what it truly means for an intelligent woman to be a mother in the modern world. Roiphe tells it like it really is - her honesty is wonderful.

As a mother, a feminist and a career-minded person, I found enormous solace in this book. It very much spoke to me in the daily search for the right balance and healthy approach toward mothering. It is refreshing to know that I am not the only feminist who finds herself so wholly absorbed by her child but also curious about what this might mean for other parts of myself. I know there will be those who find Roiphe a bit reactionary, but that's no reason to ignore the many many truths in the book

As a radical feminist I have to say that this book shocked and horrified me in many ways. While incredibly courageous and brilliant, diverse voices are enriching contemporary feminist discourse (especially the fantastic Mary Daly, Jane Marcus, and Susan Faludi), we sometimes find that a few women are left behind, complaining that feminism has been unfair to *them*! Well, feminists HAVE addressed the issue of children and how difficult it is for women to have to tend to them while finally giving herself the greatest gifts of all: identity and freedom. Perhaps Roiphe has fallen behind the times; other feminists are steaming on ahead!

After making a career of pushing a radical feminist agenda on a generation, Anne Roiphe finally realizes that it doesn't work. Or does she? This book amounts to nothing more than yet another way for the author to blame society for her own shortcomings as a mother and, particularly, as a step-mother. That she does all this from atop a rarified perch in Manhattan makes it all the more difficult to stomach.

This book is mainly for women who want to learn how to blame others in order to justify having made a mess of things by habitually misplacing their priorities.

Anne Roiphe's "Fruitful", while passionate about its subject, is very poorly edited. In one chapter, she gives the wrong year for the Roe v. Wade decision; in another, she gives the name of a German book as "Strupel Pater" when the title is actually "Struwwelpeter", indicating that her text was not even adequately proofread. There are many other mistakes as well. I put this book down halfway through because I was afraid of picking up misinformation, since the editor was obviously asleep at the wheel.